House District 68 candidate overview

Braswell said he is uniquely qualified to represent the drastically redrawn Texas House District 68 because he understands its needs more than any of his three opponents.

Although he was born in Dallas and is now a rancher in Montague County, which is about 60 miles northwest of Fort Worth, he graduated from Pampa High School in 1976 and from Texas Tech in 1983.

He often comes to the Texas Panhandle and the South Plains for business, so he is familiar with the region’s issues, Braswell said.

“I am running because District 68 is a conservative district, and it needs a conservative voice in Austin,” said Braswell, who describes himself as a fiscal and social conservative and is making public school finance, water, agriculture and electricity his main campaign issues.

Braswell said he has been involved in Republican Party politics since 1978 and was recently chairman of the party in Montague County. He is also a frequent speaker for tea party and other conservative groups across Texas, Braswell said.

He is married to Mari-Kathryn Braswell. The couple lives on a 200-acre ranch, where they manage a herd of 50 registered Texas Longhorn cattle, according to his campaign website.

■ David Isbell

There are a few things Isbell likes to stress, but none more important than he’s a sixth-generation Texan but not a politician.

“I am not a politician and will work to stay that way,” said Isbell, who lives in Cooke County and has a master’s degree from the University of Texas. “I will be fair, attentive to the needs of everyone and study issues to make my own decisions about issues.”

If elected to represent Texas House District 68, he will make water, agriculture, school funding and higher education his legislative priorities, Isbell said.

Although school funding is a serious problem, water is just as critical, he said.

“If we do not do something now to plan on the future, we will be facing a situation of not enough water, and that will not only hurt our economy but our children and grandchildren,” Isbell said.

As a professional engineer, Isbell founded Isbell Engineering Group in 1977 and operated it in Cooke County for 20 years until the business was sold in 2007, according to his biography. He retired three years later and now works as an engineering consultant and land surveyor.

Isbell and his wife, Sherry Ann, have been married for 42 years. They have two sons, both engineers, too.

■ Trent McKnight

Of all candidates in the Texas House District 68 race, McKnight lives closest to the Panhandle/South Plains region. If elected, he intends to make rural issues his top legislative priority, said the Throckmorton County resident who describes himself as a businessman and rancher.

“If I am elected, I will work hard and get results for our rural communities,” said McKnight.

Public education funding, water, agriculture and rural jobs would be his legislative priorities.

“Water is the lifeblood of our region, and we need to make sure that we have a sound policy,” he said. "And we need rural jobs because otherwise some of our counties in West Texas would continue losing population.”

McKnight, a lifelong resident of Throckmorton County, has a bachelor of science degree in agricultural economics from Oklahoma State University and a master’s degree in comparative politics from the London School of Economics, according to his biography.

He describes himself as a lifelong conservative Republican and long involved in agricultural issues, citing his volunteer work for former President George W. Bush's campaign and work and membership in agriculture-related groups and activities such as Future Farmers of America and Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers.

■ Drew Springer

Like all of his three Republican opponents in the Texas House District 68 race, Springer likes to cite his rural Texas upbringing and a lifelong involvement in agriculture and livestock issues.

“I grew up in Weatherford, and I’ve spent the last seven years in the livestock industry,” he said. “I bring all the experience necessary to represent the district in Austin.”

If he elected, he would push for a smaller government and also focus on agriculture, water, oil and gas, public education and Medicaid reform, Springer said.

“We are overregulated in every aspect,” he said. “We need a smaller government and less regulation.”

Springer, who said he has an accounting degree from the University of Texas and spent 15 years working for a railcar company, also cites a lifelong history of Republican Party involvement, lives in Cooke County, the easternmost and most populated of the 22 counties in the rural district.

In 1984, right after turning 18, he voted for President Ronald Reagan and four years ago he went to Colorado, a battleground state, to help with the presidential campaign of Arizona Sen. John McCain, according to his campaign website. Springer and his wife, Lydia, have been married for 20 years. They have two sons and a daughter.